Rio de Janeiro underwater (climate change destroying rain)

[ensho]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/americas/2010/04/11/rio-de-janeiro-underwater


It's been a less than a week since Rio de Janeiro was thrust into absolute chaos with relentless downpours that flooded the city, killed 229 people (as of Sunday night), injured nearly 200, caused over 11,000 people to evacuate their homes, and left an unknown number buried under the earth in mudslides.

-snip with video and text-

UNDER THE MICROSCOPE

World Cup 2014. Olympics 2016. I have blogged previously about how anytime anything happens in Rio there will be cries of "how can this city host the two biggest sporting events in the world when they can’t even blah blah blah". A lot of news will be put into that picture frame. Rio – and Brazil for that matter - is under the microscope until 2016.

People who live in Rio probably know full well that the city is often a chaotic mess, but in the end the one thing it knows how to do is pull off a good party. We all remember how Rio hosted an estimated 1.3 million – yes, million - people on Copacabana beach for a Rolling Stones concert in 2006. The city flawlessly pulled off hosting the Pan American Games in 2007, despite criticism that the city was not ready.

I remember how city workers were installing scaffolding for TV cameras on Copacabana beach at 3am on the morning of the Olympics 2016 announcement, almost like someone decided the night before "Geez, we might actually win this thing!" And as we all know, Rio did. And it was an unforgettable image at that very moment it was announced.

Every year Rio hosts that little party called carnival. Remember that? And every year it's a chaotic scramble, but every time, in the end, Rio manages and everyone goes home saying: "Wow – only in Rio." This is the Carioca style. Get used to it.

In the end, the hope is that the flooding of last week will force the city to be better prepared for world events it will host in the future.

But more importantly – much more importantly - the terrible human suffering will force a broader conversation on proper housing in one of the world's great cities. With the expectation to improve the living conditions of the millions of Brazilians at risk, who keep the city moving on a daily basis, and who will call Rio de Janeiro home before 2014 and long after 2016.
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wishing the people of Rio de Janeiro well

[Withywindle]

1. k& r